Repatriation of over eight million American military personnel after WWII
This article is about the United States post-World War II operation. For the Israeli operation to transport Yemenite Jews to Israel, see Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen).
Operation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II operation by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and Asian theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships, and troop transports began repatriating soldiers from Europe in June 1945. Beginning in October 1945, over 370 navy ships were used for repatriation duties in the Pacific. Warships, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, hospital ships, and large numbers of assault transports were used. The European phase of Operation Magic Carpet concluded in February 1946 while the Pacific phase continued until September 1946.[1]
As early as mid-1943, the United States Army had recognized that, once the war was over, bringing the troops home would be a priority. More than 16 million Americans were in uniform, and more than eight million of them were scattered across all theaters of war worldwide. Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall established committees to address the logistical problem. Eventually organization of the operation was given to the War Shipping Administration (WSA).[2] Eligibility for repatriation was determined by the Adjusted Service Rating Score.
Europe
The Navy was excluded from the initial European sealift, as the Pacific War was far from over, and the task of returning the troops was the sole responsibility of the Army and Merchant Marine. The WSA ordered the immediate conversion of 300 Liberty and Victory cargo ships into transports. Adequate port and docking facilities were also serious considerations along with the transportation necessary to take the veterans to demobilization camps after they reached America's shores.[2]
There were 3,059,000 service men and women in Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean on VE-Day.[3] The first homeward-bound ships left Europe in late June 1945, and by November, the sealift was at its height. Whereas American shipping had averaged the delivery of 148,000 soldiers per month to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during the wartime build-up, the post VE-Day rush homeward would average more than 435,000 GIs per month for the next 14 months.[4]
In mid-October 1945 the United States Navy donated the newly commissioned carrier USSLake Champlain—fitted with bunks for 3,300 troops—to the operation. She was joined in November by the battleship USSWashington. The European lift now included more than 400 vessels. Some would carry as few as 300 while the large ocean liners often squeezed 15,000 aboard.[4] One of the ocean liners, the British RMSQueen Mary, the U.S. obtained the use of in exchange for 10 smaller U.S. vessels.[3] The WSA and the army also converted 29 troopships into special carriers for war brides, for the almost half a million European women who had married American servicemen.[5] The Magic Carpet fleet also included 48 hospital ships; these transported more than half a million wounded.[4]
This was not, however, a one-way stream. Former Axis POWs had to be repatriated from Europe and Japan and occupation forces had to be dropped in Germany, China, Korea and Japan.[1] Returned to Europe were more than 450,000 German prisoners of war, in addition to 53,000 Italian ex-POWs.[5][6] Between May and September 1945, 1,417,850 were repatriated.
Between October 1945 to April 1946, another 3,323,395 were repatriated. By the end of February, the ETO phase of Magic Carpet was essentially completed.[5]
Asia and the Pacific
USSAnzio lying off Shanghai, China on December 1, 1945, during Operation Magic CarpetA total of 29,204 servicemen returned aboard USSSaratoga, more than on any other individual ship
The Navy hastily converted many of its warships into temporary transports, including aircraft carriers, where three-to five-tiered bunks were installed on the hangar decks to provide accommodation for several thousand men in relative comfort. The Navy fleet of 369 ships included 222 assault transports, 6 battleships, 18 cruisers, 57 aircraft carriers and 12 hospital ships.[7]
By October 1945, Magic Carpet was operating worldwide with the Army, Navy and WSA pooling their resources to expedite the troop-lift. December 1945 became the peak month with almost 700,000 returning home from the Pacific. With the final arrival of 29 troop transports carrying more than 200,000 soldiers and sailors from the China-Burma-India theater in April 1946, Operation Magic Carpet came to its end. The last of the troops to return from the Pacific war zone (127,300) arrived home in September 1946.[7]
Airlift
The Army's Air Transport Command (ATC) and the navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) were also involved in Magic Carpet operations, amassing millions of flying hours in transport and cargo aircraft, though the total number of personnel returned home by aircraft was minuscule in comparison to the numbers carried by ship.[5]
USS Takanis Bay (CVE-89) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy, which served during World War II. She was named after Takanis Bay on the west side of Yakobi Island in Alaska. Launched in March 1944 and commissioned in April, she served as a carrier training vessel, operating off of San Diego. Following the end of hostilities, she repatriated troops from the Pacific theater as part of Operation Magic Carpet.
USS Munda (CVE-104) was the last of fifty United States Navy Casablanca-class escort carrier built for service during World War II. She was named after the Battle of Munda Point, which occurred on the island New Georgia, a part of the Solomon Islands in 1943. The ship was launched in May 1944, and commissioned in July, and served as an aircraft transport and as a replenishment escort carrier in the Pacific Theatre. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, the repatriation of U.S. forces from bases scattered around the Pacific. She was decommissioned in April 1946, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in June 1960.
The Yorktown class was a class of three aircraft carriers built for the United States Navy and completed shortly before World War II, the Yorktown(CV-5), Enterprise(CV-6), and Hornet(CV-8). They immediately followed Ranger, the first U.S. aircraft carrier built as such, and benefited in design from experience with Ranger and the earlier Lexington class, which were conversions into carriers of two battlecruisers that were to be scrapped to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty, an arms limitation accord.
USS Roi (CVE-103) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Roi, in which the United States captured the island of Roi-Namur. Built for service during World War II, the ship was launched in June 1944, commissioned in July, and acted as a transport and as a replenishment carrier. During the latter months of the war, she provided aircraft and supplies to the Fast Carrier Task Force, continuing until the end of the war. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in May 1946, and she was sold for scrapping in December.
USS Matanikau (CVE-101) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Actions along the Matanikau, a series of engagements during the Guadalcanal campaign. Built for service during World War II, the ship was launched in May 1944, and commissioned in June, and served as a training and transport carrier. Notably, some 1,332 aviators earned their qualifications on-board the carrier. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in October 1946, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in July 1960.
USS Puget Sound (CVE–113) was a Commencement Bay-class escort carrier of the United States Navy.
USS Hollandia (CVE-97) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Hollandia, a successful amphibious operation during the New Guinea campaign. Launched in April 1944, and commissioned in June, she served in support of the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in January 1947, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in December 1960.
USS Thetis Bay (CVE-90) was the thirty-sixth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was launched in March 1944, commissioned in April, and served as a transport carrier in the Pacific, as well as a replenishment carrier supporting the Allied bombardment of Tokyo and the Main Islands. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, before being decommissioned in August 1946, being mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was reactivated in July 1956, and converted to a helicopter transport carrier, serving in relief operations in Taiwan and Haiti. Ultimately, she was broken up in 1966, the last Casablanca-class hull to be scrapped.
USS Prince Georges (AP-165/AK-224) was a Crater-class cargo ship in the service of the US Navy in World War II. Named after the Prince George's County, Maryland, it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.
Haskell-class attack transports (APA) were amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy created in 1944. They were designed to transport 1,500 troops and their combat equipment, and land them on hostile shores with the ships' integral landing craft.
USS Clinton (APA/LPA-144) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1946. She was sunk as a target in 1984.
USS Thomas Jefferson (APA-30), serving from 1 May 1942 until 18 July 1955, was a transport and then reclassified on 1 February 1943 as a President Jackson-class attack transport. She was laid down under Maritime Commission contract as President Garfield on 5 February 1940 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company for the American President Lines. The ship was launched on 20 November 1940, sponsored by Miss Eugenia Merrill. President Garfield was completed 26 March 1941 and acquired by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) 29 November 1941 with American President Lines, the WSA agent, operating the ship as a troop transport. On 1 May 1942 the United States Navy purchased the ship and commissioned her USS Thomas Jefferson, named for Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, on 31 August 1942.
USS Lycoming (APA-155) was a Haskell-class attack transport in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1973.
USS Gallatin (APA-169/LKA-169) was a Haskell-class attack transport acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II for the task of transporting troops to and from combat areas.
USS Karnes (APA-175) was a Haskell-class attack transport acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II for the task of transporting troops to and from combat areas.
USS General Omar Bundy (AP-152) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II.
USS General H. B. Freeman (AP-143) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. The ship was crewed by the U.S. Coast Guard until decommissioning. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Henry Blanchard Freeman. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General H. B. Freeman in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General H. B. Freeman (T-AP-143). She was sold for commercial operation in 1965, and eventually scrapped.
USS President Polk (AP-103) was a President Jackson-class attack transport in the service of the United States Navy during World War II.
The Type C4-class ship were the largest cargo ships built by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) during World War II. The design was originally developed for the American-Hawaiian Lines in 1941, but in late 1941 the plans were taken over by the MARCOM.
The Demobilization of United States armed forces after the Second World War began with the defeat of Germany in May 1945 and continued through 1946. The United States had more than 12 million men and women in the armed forces at the end of World War II, of whom 7.6 million were stationed abroad. The American public demanded a rapid demobilization and soldiers protested the slowness of the process. Military personnel were returned to the United States in Operation Magic Carpet. By June 30, 1947, the number of active duty soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen in the armed forces had been reduced to 1,566,000.
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